Not so, according to Personnel Officer Randall J. Schultz, who said yesterday he sent the letters with the blessing of County Executive Janet S. Owens. "They have a right to know they're not getting their raise when they expect it," he said. "They also had a right to know why it wasn't happening."

Schultz blames Samorajczyk because she introduced an amendment July 5 to the personnel bill containing the raises, which range from 2 percent to 7 percent. The amendment passed 4-2, meaning the council could not take final action on the bill for another month.

The upshot: rather than appearing in the July 21 checks, the raises will not appear until Aug. 25. And while the gap will be made up retroactively, Schultz says that might not happen until winter.

But Samorajczyk said that her amendment - introduced at the behest of the firefighters' union - protects all unionized workers by making sure they get merit raises on time.

She also said the administration should have introduced the personnel bill sooner to avoid a delay.